The Day the Sky Fell
by Evilhumour Author
Summary: Fifteen years have passed and Foxy Loxy, now an adult, has her own life… as far away from Oakey Oaks as possible. But when unexpected circumstances see her back there, past and present collide, as the young police officer must solve a murder where she's the prime suspect.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _Chicken Little_ (this incarnation, at least) is the property of The Walt Disney Company. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.

**Author's note:** This chapter was posted on Fanfiction Dot Net on 2019-08-29. This story was also co-written by Anon E Mouse Jr and Skaz Wolfman who both provided significant support in the creation of this fanfiction.

* * *

**Chapter One**

It was late during the night when Hoggy Woggy stumbled through the alley, looking over his shoulder to see she was still on his heels.

"Shit shit shit," he swore, trying to get some more distance between them, but she was _still_ picking up speed. He turned to push over some trash cans like they did in the movies and TV shows but he just tripped over his feet and landed snout first into the ground. He tried to push himself upright but before he get up beyond his elbows, she slammed into his back and he felt the press of cold metal against his head.

"That was _very_ stupid, Hoggy," she said, holding her gun against him as she pulled out her handcuffs and began to put them on him. "Ya could have gone in for a simple drug possession but now you get resisting arrest too."

Hoggy Woggy huffed as she pulled him up, and did his best to ignore her as she read off the whole right to remain silent spiel. When she had finished, he asked her, "Come on Foxy, can't ya let me off with a warning or something?"

The young fox raised a brown eyebrow at him. "With your record, and physical proof of your crimes? _Not_ a chance," she snorted, shaking her head as he was led to her squad car. "Now do somethin' smart and keep your yap shut."

With a grunt, Hoggy let himself be put in the back seat as the cop went to the driver's seat.

"Hey dispatcher, this is Foxy Loxy, bringing in Hoggy Woggy for drug possession and resisting arrest. Over."

Stretching out his hearing, he could hear over the radio. "Copy that, Foxy. We'll have officers standing by on arrival. Over."

She then switched off the radio and threw the car into motion, driving them off.

* * *

Before Foxy could get very far inside the precinct, she heard Ruffidge calling her to his office which either meant something very _good_ or very _bad_ as tended to be the case when the chief called you into his office.

Foxy dropped off the pig at handling, taking in the praising some of the other officers gave her and playing along with the good natured teasing the others gave to her, before she made her way to Ruffidge's office.

Raising her paw to the door, Foxy was about to knock when Ruffidge called out, "If that's you Foxy, come on in."

Opening the door with a smile on her perfectly straight teeth - thank you braces for _that_ little bles - _miracle_, she corrected herself, she stepped into Ruffidge's office and asked, "And if I weren't Foxy, what do I need to do?"

Ruffidge snorted, shaking his head. "Then you'd need to go get my new officer in here so I can congratulate her."

Foxy couldn't keep her tail from swishing but she tried to downplay it with an easy smile. "Why thank you chief, just trying to do my best here."

"Though there is one thing," he said causing her good mood to drop immediately. "I've been going over your days and I've seen you haven't scheduled any downtime in a while." He raised an eyebrow at her meaning it wasn't a statement but a question.

"Well chief, I'd like to keep myself more focused on the job as I don't got much else going on," she said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I've noticed," he said with his eyes flicking over to the small trophy cabinet that held the local sports trophies from the different games the first response league had won. "We could have used you on the baseball team, from what I heard you were really go-," he trailed off as he remembered the rest of what her file said about that time. With a blush, he coughed out a _Sorry_.

"It's okay, chief, I know you didn't mean it," Foxy sighed. She missed playing baseball but it just brought back too many bad memories for her and she didn't trust herself not to lose it in a game with her fellow cops and others around, especially not when she had a blunt object like a bat in her paws. Sitting down in the chair in front of his desk, Foxy pushed her hair away from her face. "That's another reason I'm not too up for downtime, if I'm honest. Sitting at home with nothing to do can bring back the past and I'm…" she trailed off, rubbing and squeezing her arm a bit too tightly which annoyed her. She'd _thought_ she'd got past that bad habit but it seemed she was wrong.

"Look, I can pull some strings," Ruffidge said causing her ears to perk. "Got some favours to call in; why don't you let me take care of things and get you settled up, okay?"

Foxy could barely keep her jaw from dropping, "I... I don't know what to say chief."

"Thanks would be a good start," he chuckled before reaching for his phone. "Now go get your paperwork all done; don't want _that_ to keep you stuck here, do you Miss Loxy?"

"No sir," she said with a mock salute, walking out of his office and to her desk.

* * *

It had taken several days to get _everything_ in order but Ruffidge was good to his word; she had a number of vacation days down in Florida to sit on her butt and take in the sun and then go to the Disney park. A part of her, even from back then, had wanted to go there and now she had her chance at long last! All her bags had been packed and repacked to make sure she had everything she'd need and then she'd done another check a couple of hours later on.

The only hitch was that the route she'd be on would take her uncomfortably close to a place she never wanted to see again, but she was a _horrible_ flyer and the last thing she needed was to be sick all the way through her vacation and then some during her flight back home to the Big Apple.

Still, it was a mostly free trip and Foxy wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she got into her car with the windows down and the music up as she drove down the highway. It was an older model; the AC wasn't working and she'd had some frights that it wouldn't start in the past, but it had always pulled through before and if it didn't, she would be in trouble as she couldn't really afford to get a new car anytime soon.

As the first day of her trip down south came to a close, she pulled up into a motel with a bit of concern in the back of her head as her car's engine had been rattling for the last few miles. But the check engine light _hadn't_ popped up yet, so she figured she was in the clear for now.

During the middle of the second day, however, Foxy was _really_ worried that her engine was going to literally fall out of her damn car at this point. She remembered that the mechanics had said something about how the mounts were on their last legs when she had brought her car in the last time around and she was curious if she was going to be stuck in the middle of nowhere because of her fu-

Before she could finish the curse to her pride, however, her eyes spotted something reflective on the road and attempted to serve to avoid it but by the sudden gush of air and thump of the rim hitting the road, Foxy knew she had just blown a tire.

Remembering her training for this kind of emergency, she eased her foot off the gas and did her best to control her car into a safe deceleration that wouldn't involve her flipping around. Cursing the entire time, Foxy slowly pried her fingers from the steering wheel when her car finally came to a stop and just as slowly stepped out to examine the damage.

She cursed as she saw it, and sighed. She had lost a tire due to what looked like broken glass shredding the rubber and she had no spare on her. And even if she did, she had no way of actually _changing_ a tire. Another mistake on her part, she admitted to herself.

Pulling out her phone in the hopes she could get a connection out in the middle of nowhere, Foxy began to call the number for the local tow truck she saw a few klicks back.

After getting off the line with the receptionist and giving her the information she needed, Foxy went back to her car and did her best to steer it to the side and then moved to get rid of the broken glass on the highway so no one else would get in the same trouble as she did.

* * *

It was about half an hour as the receptionist said it would be before a tow truck finally came to pick her up and her heart sank as she read the name on its side.

_Oakey Oaks Towing and Automotive_

Despite doing her best not to growl, she couldn't keep her paws from balling into fists as the truck pulled up to her car. Then she did a bit of a double take as she thought she recognized the driver that stepped out. He was definitely older with a wider gut, but those sunglasses were very familiar.

"Morkubine?" she asked hesitantly.

The porcupine gave her a thumbs-up. "Yo."

She sighed in relief; Morkubine Porcupine was one of the few people she remembered who'd stayed out of that whole mess back when, and had never managed to get on her bad side as a result. She still wasn't sure if he'd even _cared_ either way, since he typically refused to speak up about _anything_ if he could help it, but indifference to both sides was still better than how most people had reacted.

Once he'd gotten her car hauled up onto the back of his truck, he gestured for her to climb in the passenger side of the cab, and then climbed in his own side and started the engine without saying a word.

For the next several miles, they drove on in silence, Foxy uncertain of what to say and Morkubine being his usual taciturn self.

Finally, she broke the silence and asked him if anything had changed in the town from the last ten years.

"No," he said, shaking his head as he continued to drive down the road.

"Still don't say much, do you?"

"No," he said before turning to grin at her and Foxy couldn't help but let out a snort at his bad attempt at a joke. It might have been his way to lighten the mood, and it _sorta_ did but her flesh still crawled when they pulled into the town with the sign saying

_Welcome to Oakey Oaks, Best Acorns in the Universe_

Gritting her teeth, she watched as the buildings passed her and people she thought she recognized went by as Morkubine drove down the streets. Foxy could tell he wasn't taking the busier streets so either he was trying to keep her out of sight in an attempt to be kind to her or was attempting something unseemly. Though that possibility was dashed when he pulled up into a mechanic's shop that had _Oakey Oaks Towing and Automotive_ above the door.

Stepping outside of the truck, Foxy turned to Morkubine, "So how long do you think it will take to fix the tire, a day or so?"

"Yo," he said, flicking out a finger out at the calendar, pointing to the next day. Foxy raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms with a smirk on her face.

"You're _really_ dedicated to that shtick, aren't ya?" Morkubine nodded his head with a grin on his face. "Well, here's my number so you can give me a call when it's done," she said as she handed him one of her cards and watched as his eyes widen as he saw she was a cop. "Now… now to go the motel so I can have a place to sleep tonight," she said as she got her belongings from her trunk.

"Here," he said, handing out a tourist's map to her which after a quick glance did have a motel.

"Thanks," she said with a smile on her face.

"No prob," Morkubine said causing Foxy turn around in surprise.

"_Two_ syllables?" she said with a bit of snark in her voice. "I guess you grew up eh?"

Morkubine simply shrugged his shoulders good-naturedly before he went to the tool rack to start his work and Foxy was left to walk through a town she hadn't seen in ten years.

It was all she could do to keep herself calm and collected, moving down the sidewalk and not making eye contact with anyone that she thought she recognized.

For the most part, to her growing delight, it seemed to be wo-

"Foxy Loxy, is that _you?_" a voice she instantly recognized called out to her and caused her blood to boil. It was that damn twerp that had helped that _other_ bastard ruin her life get away scot-free, Chicken-

Turning around to glare down at him, she bumped her snout into the chest of a tall and very muscular man. Taking a step back she looked up to see the concerned face looking down at her. "Little?" she said her thoughts aloud.

"It _is_ you," he said with a grin breaking out on his face, opening his arms as if to hug her but she let out a growl and stared hard at him.

"Touch me and you'll lose that arm, Little," she barked out through clenched teeth.

He blinked in surprise. "What did I do?"

"_You know,_" she hissed. "Because of _you_, that… arrrgh!" She growled again. "Got off without so much as a slap on the wrist."

"Foxy," he started to sound like his old loser self now, but still had that adult influence in his voice. "I know things didn't go as they should have and I am _sor-_"

"I don't care," she snapped, doing her best to keep her anger under control. "That doesn't make up for those-"

"I _know_ a simple apology won't do that, Foxy, but at least let me try-"

"To clear your own conscious so you can be a hero again?" she shot back, enjoying seeing him squirm.

"Foxy." He suddenly sounded a lot older. "All I did was call for calm, like a judge calling for order. How was I supposed to know everyone else would get a completely different meaning out of it?"

"Because you know just as well as I do that this town is filled with stupid idiots?" She leaned into his face and her old victim flinched at her. "Now leave me alone; it's hell that I am stuck here on my vacation for an hour, let alone the night _and_ day that it'll take to get my car fixed."

"Please Foxy," he reached for her arm again but stopped when she began to bare her teeth. "Just come to my place for dinner tonight; we can talk like adults in private and try to find some sort of understanding."

She wanted nothing more than to spit in his face but she knew from her police training that it was sometimes best to let the perp think they were getting what they wanted so they could be easier to deal with. And that meant pretending to think it over so she leveled her best nonconfirmational glare at him and let him draw his own conclusions.

"Right," he said uncertainty, put off by her glare but still believing she was agreeing with him. "At seven okay? It's the same place from when I was a kid, okay?" Chicken began to rub his fingers uncertainly before he began to walk away from her. When he was finally out of sight she dropped her glare and looked around to see a crowd had been formed and watched the entire thing. Thankfully, none of them had the guts to actually try and talk to her so she could get on with her day.

* * *

"And that's when I got to my motel room, boss," Foxy said as she sat on the bed she paid the night for, with her right leg over her left, suitcase by the nightstand. She had already talked to her therapist and called the resort she'd be staying at to tell them she'd be a day later than she'd thought she would be. She uncrossed her legs and then placed her left leg on right as she listened to his question. "No, I'm not going to his house; he can enjoy a dinner for two by himself." She snorted, hoping Chicken would get the message. She then ignored the bit of the lecture Ruffidge gave he before her ears fell to the side of her head. "I'm okay, chief. I really am." She let out a yawn, tired by the entire day and being back here. "I think I am going to call it an early night." She wished him goodnight before she got changed out of her white shirt and jeans and into her sleepwear before closing the lights and doing her best to fall asleep.

* * *

_THUD THUD THUD_

Foxy jumped from a sound sleep with her paw reaching for her gun, only to remember it wasn't under her pillow.

"Miss Loxy, are you in there?" a voice called from outside.

"Yeah," she called back, somewhat groggily. "Just a sec."

Throwing the covers off and grabbing some clothes, she covered herself and then went to answer the door, surprised to see a pair of police officers outside. "Can I help you?"

"Miss Loxy, can you account for your whereabouts last night?" the officer on the right asked.

"Yeah… I came to this place, checked in, went straight to my room… spent a few hours on the phone and then hit the sack," she said. "Is there something wrong?"

"You could say that." The officer on the left looked grim. "We had a murder last night, and at this point in time, you're the only suspect."

Foxy stared at him. "What." She then snorted, shaking her head. "You _better_ have a _damn_ good reason to suspect me."

They shared a look before the one on the right looked at her with handcuffs in his paws. "The murder victim is Chicken Little."

Foxy's eyes went wide before she let out a curse. "Well _shit_."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** _Chicken Little_ (this incarnation, at least) is the property of The Walt Disney Company. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.

**Author's note:** This chapter was posted on Fanfiction Dot Net on 2019-09-12. This story was also co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr and Skaz Wolfman who both provided significant support in the creation of this fanfiction.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"So ma'am," the officer on the left, a badger, asked as the one on the right stepped closer to her. "Is there _anyone_ that can vouch for your whereabouts last night?"

"_Yes_," she said, shooting a glare at the cop on the right, a bobcat. "And it'd be best to talk about this sort of thing down at the precinct, _with_ a legal representative for me, like you'd do in a _proper_ investigation. Just let me finish getting dressed and I'll be right with you."

"And how'd _you_ know about that?" the bobcat snarked at her.

With the biggest smirk on her face, Foxy grabbed her wallet and flipped it open to show her badge. "I've been in your place before, that's how. And you'd _better_ have some good evidence to back this up besides how I feel towards the deceased, 'cause _everyone_ heard me yelling at him both yesterday and before I left town ten years ago."

Both of them were clearly caught off guard by her being a cop with the one on the right putting away the cuffs. "Well, um, sorry to ask this, but do you have your piece on you?" he asked with the tone that said he _really_ didn't want to get on her bad side which was a lost cause.

"Why exactly?" she asked with her eyes narrow as she thumbed her license to carry her gun.

"Just a safety precaution," the one on the left spoke, holding out their hands as if to calm her down. "We'll just take-"

"Nothing until you have a warrant for it," she said sharply, not going to give them a _chance_ to pin this on her. "Now let me get dressed and then we'll go down to the precinct."

"Yes ma'am," they both said with the same rookie route that came from answering a superior officer. With a smirk on her face, Foxy closed the door on both of them and began to pull on the rest of her clothes. Stretching out an ear, she could hear them argue on who had to alert the chief about this.

* * *

"Uh, boss?" Digger said as he knocked on the chief's door, having drawn the short straw this time to break the bad news. "We have a problem, on the Little case."

The chief, a tall and rather grumpy-looking grizzly bear, groaned and rubbed his face in his paws. "Perp skip town?"

"No, sir. She's in, but... well, first off, she's already lawyered up. _Kinda_."

Chief Grizzly groaned again. "_Another_ one who knows to do that? I hate smart crooks." He then frowned. "What do you mean _kinda_."

"Er..." Digger looked liked he wanted to be anyplace other than here. "That's just the thing, boss. While she's the main suspect, she's also a cop herself and she's made a call to _her_ boss."

"_What‽_" Chief Grizzly instantly stood up. "You'd better be _damn_ sure of that!"

"She's got the badge, and we checked it out, sir. It's legit." Digger looked dismayed. "I was told that you should expect a call in a-"

_Brriing briinng_

Grizzly stared at his phone before glaring at Digger. "Her badge number, _now_," he snapped as he grabbed the phone with one paw while checking out the database himself.

"Chief Grizzly Smoke," he answered while bracing himself for the backlash of accusing a fellow cop for a serious crime

"Chief Ruffidge," the voice on the other line was sharp and _very_ annoyed. "I would like to know why my officer has just called to inform me that she is being accused of committing a murder without _any_ evidence to justify such a claim."

Yup, this was going to be a _very_ painful conversation.

* * *

Foxy leaned back in her chair, barely able to keep the smile off her face. They had brought her straight to this office instead of an interrogation room while doing their best to make her comfortable and be accommodating by offering her water and running out to get her breakfast. She had turned down both as not to give them a chance to get her DNA. They were easy tactics that often did work but she wasn't some stupid kid that would fall for them, she was properly and fully an officer of the law and she wasn't going to take the fall for this.

Her ear twitched as she heard footsteps coming towards her and stood up straighter in her chair. A moment later, the door opened and Chief Grizzly walked in with a speaker attached to his paws.

"Miss Loxy," the bear said with a clear reluctance. "We have your Chief Ruffidge on the line with us."

"Hello Foxy, how are you doing?" Ruffidge asked her.

"Good enough chief," she said to the phone before looking at the chief in front of her. "You spoke to this guy here about what they think I did?"

"Yes I did and I know what you are being accused of is impossible as as I was talking with you at the time of the murder," Ruffidge shot back with Grizzly glowering before clearing his throat.

"And my department is apologizing for their mistake," he said before sighing. "Look, officer, we do have some more questions to ask, but let me cut to the chase. We are not as trained or experienced with this kind of crime, and…"

It took Foxy a moment to realize what he was getting at and she turned to the phone. "He _cannot_ be serious about this-"

"We spoke and we are," Ruffidge said with a sigh. "As of now, you are to assist with the Oakey Oaks Police Department in solving this case."

Foxy groaned. "All right, chief, I'll cooperate."

"I'll be in touch." With that, he hung up.

Passing the phone off to one of his officers just outside the room, Chief Grizzly sat down across from her. "All right. First off, given your history here, I'd like to know why you were back in town in the first place."

"I was on vacation, heading south, when I got a flat tire out on the highway yesterday. Morkubine brought it in with his tow truck," she said.

"Right." He consulted his notes. "There were more than a few people who saw you and Little out on the streets yesterday. Arguing, or at least talking with raised voices."

"I was on my way to the local motel when he saw me," Foxy said. "He seemed to think I'd be willing to forgive and forget, after what went down before I left this place."

"But you weren't."

"Chief Grizzly, I lost _five years_ of my life because of the guy he called his best friend, and when he spoke up in court? I didn't even get to see justice done. Even if that's not what he intended back then, the last thing I wanted was to ever see or hear from him again, so of course I was mad because he wouldn't take the hint and leave me be."

"And once he left, you went to your motel."

"Right."

"Good." Grizzly flipped a page in his notepad. "Now, the crime scene. Unfortunately…" He grimaced.

"What's wrong with it?" she looked at him.

"Do you recall an Anthony Axolotl?"

"Yes I think I do," she said. "Went to the same school as me, but I don't think we really had any classes together.

"Well, he's the one who found the body, and unfortunately, he… uh… damaged the scene," Grizzly said. "Guy's a total germophobe, so he wiped the door handle before going in…"

"And wiped away any fingerprints. Joy," she muttered.

"Both sides too," Grizzly said as he riffled through some paper. "_Also_ got a bit sick when he saw the body so there's _further_ damage to the scene."

"_Wonderful_," she groaned, tilting her head so her hair fell in front of her face. She shook it away before asking. "So how _did_ Little die anyways?"

"Multiple stab wounds, one to the chest and the rest in the back after he fell forward." Grizzly grimaced. "And they're not clean ones either. Looks like the killer went berserk on him."

"Hmm," Foxy raised an eyebrow. "Did he have any- wait, how did Tony get into Little's house? Was the door locked or…?"

"No, we're a small town and hardly any of us actually lock the doors here," Grizzly shook his head. "The killer could have and more than likely just walked in, killed Little and then walked out."

"Have you recovered the weapon?"

"One of the first things we checked the place for," he replied. "We found it on the kitchen table; set for two with one plate eaten from and the other still full, more than likely set for you. Already checked that area for prints, but didn't find any - they must have held it with a cloth or glove."

"You mentioned it looked like it was a motivated killing; did Little have any enemies here?"

"No, none that I can think of besi-"

"Besides me, you mean." Foxy sighed. "And maybe my folks, mad as they were about what happened too, but I know they left town with me, and they never would have come back either if they had the choice."

"Right." Grizzly nodded. "Look, I know your history with Little was complicated to say the least but after the trial, he really did his best to become the voice of reason here."

"Little, the voice of _reason_?" Foxy shook her head. "The guy who panicked because he thought the sky was falling?"

"And turned out to be half right, seeing as it was a camouflage panel from an alien spaceship."

"Yes, I _know_," Foxy placed both her hands onto the table with her claws digging into wood. "One of the worst days of my life, when they came back and messed with my head…" She sighed, shaking her head and doing her best to calm herself. "Let me take a look at the scene, I might be able to spot something you missed."

"You had anything to eat this morning?"

"No."

"Might want to," Grizzly said.

"With all due respect, I'd rather have an empty stomach when I go to a bloody crime scene," Foxy said.

"Point, but still," Grizzly said with a shrug. "You want to stop by, there's a good cafe right near here."

"I'll think about it, _after_ we get things checked out," Foxy said as she rose. "Now, let's get to that crime scene."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** _Chicken Little_ (this incarnation, at least) is the property of The Walt Disney Company. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.

**Author's note:** This chapter was posted on Fanfiction Dot Net on 2020-02-03. This story was also co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr and Skaz Wolfman who both provided significant support in the creation of this fanfiction.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

It wasn't a long car drive from the precinct to Little's house, even without Digger turning on the sirens. It wasn't an easy drive though, as it started to bring back old memories. Memories she'd _thought_ she'd rid herself of a long time ago.

_I hate this place,_ she thought bitterly as she stepped out of the car and walked under the police tape blocking the house off from the neighbourhood. She could spot Anthony Axolotl off to the side on the grass, still being treated by some medics. She raised an eyebrow at this to Digger who shrugged his shoulders.

"We tried to move him but this was as far we could get him before he had another panic attack," he said. "Not that I blame him, with what he saw. I think we're going to have to make sure he gets counseling after this."

"It is standard procedure to set it up, or at least it _should_ be," Foxy said, rolling her eyes as other officers frowned before looking at Digger for confirmation. The badger nodded his head and one of them moved to open the door for them.

As Foxy and Digger entered, Digger gestured. "Room's this way," he said. "And about what you said earlier… you're right, it is standard procedure. But you wouldn't believe how many stories I've heard about people who were scheduled for it and managed to avoid showing up."

"I probably would, actually," Foxy muttered as her eyes swept the room, looking around for anything that might be relevant. "I've seen a lot in my time on the force."

"Right," Digger said as he opened the door to the kitchen with Foxy stepping inside. The body had already been removed but the police here had done what they could to mark the evidence that Anthony hadn't contaminated, which seemed to the actual place where Chicken had died. "As we said, Mr Axolotl had reacted poorly to seeing the body and…"

"Emptied his stomach all over the crime scene," she said, wrinkling her nose as she looked around the area before looking at the wall. "Gloves please." she said, holding out her hands before Badger gave her a pair. Placing them on, she waved over one of the people still taking photos take a picture of the wall before she removed the clock and placed it on a table the police had set up. "Blood splatter on the hands," she explained with the other officers observing her. "And if we line up the blood splatter…"

"It aligns up to be 7:30," Badger said with the other cops nodding their heads.

"That lines up with the coroner's report," one of them said as he consulted something. "Based on liver temp, the time of death was eleven hours before they found the body."

"Any traffic cameras outside that might have caught the perp, or anyone else who would have been in the area then?" Foxy asked.

"While we do have cameras, unfortunately the perp seems to have just walked so we got nothing on the cameras," Badger said with a sigh. "In all honesty, it is likely that perp literally walked through the door, killed Mr. Little and then walked out."

Foxy frowned. "I know that people expected me to be here last night; do you think anyone here would have noticed someone else coming to his house at night?"

Again, Digger shook his head. "Mr. Little was a pillar of the community; he did his best to be friends with everyone. He was also the coach of the baseball team with families dropping by at all hours so they could talk shop. Sometimes with their kids and sometimes by themselves. Really, anyone who lives here could have stopped in and nobody would have thought anything of it." He shrugged. "Even his ex might have stopped in for a chat."

"His ex?" Foxy blinked. "You mean, Abby Mallard?"

"Sure," Digger said. "Oh, they broke up years ago, and it was a little touch-and-go at first." He shook his head. "She never did forgive Little for… well, you know. But she and Little had a long talk about it afterwards and I heard that they decided to take a break from each other for a while, then she started working at the café and eventually hit it off with this other guy." He thought for a moment. "From what I remember, she didn't meet him until a while after she and Little'd realized they'd grown past one another and decided to stay just friends."

"Huh," Foxy tapped the table, thinking to herself. "I suppose she might know something of Little's life if they were still friends. He always confided in her. Her and Fish and…" she trailed off as she recalled the one who ruined her childhood.

Digger looked as if he were about to say something, but then just nodded. "She was on our list of people to talk to, actually," he said. "We haven't done it yet because we've been busy here, but you can handle that part."

"And the rest of his friends?"

"Fish left town a few days ago on a fishing trip - yes, we know how it sounds and no, we don't want to know exactly what he meant. Though some of the boys think it's probably just his little inside joke and he's really gone to visit family."

"And _him?_"

"School crossing guard, though we have taken him off the lists of suspects; even with how many people come and go without really drawing any attention, _he_ still would considering how fa-er, _big_ boned he is," Digger coughed. "Plus considering the stab wounds on the victim and the height difference between the two, it would have been impossible for him to commit the murder."

"And if he is as fat as you say he is, then he would have left marks as he waddled around the kitchen," Foxy concluded, while holding back more comments about _him_ that would definitely be viewed as racist. "Right." Nodding her head to Digger, she peeled the gloves off. "I will go interview Abby, see if she knows anything about Little."

"And we'll keep checking with the neighbors," Digger said. "None of them have seen anything yet, but hopefully we'll turn up something."

Foxy nodded, then turned and left the room, still peering about as she went.

_Either this killer's really good about not leaving evidence, or…_ She let that thought slide. From everything she'd seen, the cops here were pretty good when it came to being professional about their jobs, their mishandling of her notwithstanding.

hr noshade="noshade" size="1" /

A little while later, she was in the Blue Swan Café, having studied the hours - six in the morning to one in the morning - before taking a menu and a seat in one of the corner booths. As she studied the list of specials, she heard an "Ahem" and looked up to see a familiar, yet changed face.

"Hello, Foxy," Abby Mallard said. The former "Ugly Duckling" hadn't changed _too_ much - oh, her teeth looked a bit shorter, and her feathers had been neatly combed, but she was still very recognizable as herself. All in all, she actually looked kind of attractive now, and Foxy figured she'd finally finished growing into her body. "Never expected to see you in town again."

"Wouldn't have been my choice to come back either," Foxy retorted as the other woman sat down across from her. "How's business?"

"Pretty well, all things considered this is a small town café with a limited client pool," Abby replied with a smirk on her beak. "You?"

"I could have done without being sent on this vacation," Foxy said. She flipped her wallet open to show her badge, causing Abby to suck in a breath of air. "Might make yourself comfortable, Mrs. Mallard, we need to talk."

"It's _Ballard_ now, actually," Abby said as she held up a ring. "Mrs. Mallard Ballard." She shot a look at Foxy. "I know, the name sounds odd, but he's really a sweet guy."

"Oi, Abbs, table five needs a servin'!" a voice called out from the counter with warmth in his voice.

"Well then princess, move ya legs as I'm talking to a cop!" Abby hollered back with the same good-natured tone.

"Wait, for something you did, I did, we did or somethin' someone did?" A male mallard peeked out from the kitchen.

"Think it's the latter, so get to the customers, chop chop!" Abby clapped her hands with the other duck grumbling playfully as he grabbed the plates and began to serve the tables. "God, I _love_ that man."

Foxy held up her hands. "I'm not here to judge," she said. "But I _am_ here on business."

"So is this about… Chicken?" Abby asked in a small voice as she sat down. "My customers have been talking since we opened this morning, and they said he was… _gone_."

"It is," Foxy said with a sigh. "And yes, he's gone."

"I didn't do it," Abby said immediately, stammering slightly. "I would never… even after..." She hung her head.

Foxy gave her a look. "I suppose you were here, or at home, all yesterday evening? Between six and eight?"

Abby nodded. "It's busy here most nights," she said. "People would have noticed if I left before closing, and even then I had to stay another hour for inventory. Even if I had reason to want him… _gone_, I wouldn't have had the chance, not during the dinner hours. If you want, we can get the surveillance tapes from last night. Might be a small town that you _can_ leave the door unlocked, but that doesn't mean we'll be fools about it."

"Right." Foxy leaned forward. "Little confided in you," she said. "Do you know anyone who might have wanted him dead?"

Abby looked down. "No," she said. "No, I don't. I know there were actually a few people who… well, who weren't happy with him for a while. But most of them either left town or made up with him." She frowned. "Of course, that fat… urrgh…" She growled. "If _he'd_ been the victim, you'd have a lot harder time narrowing the list of suspects."

Foxy looked surprised. "Really? I thought most people here didn't care about what he did to me."

"Foxy, you _left_ for some other state practically the same day, you have no idea what it was like here after the trial!" Abby snapped. "Oh, sure, Chicken tried to keep things calm, but maybe a week later… there was almost a lynch mob in the streets!" She sighed. "And the only reason I wasn't _part_ of it was because my parents locked all our doors and windows when I tried to join in."

Foxy looked even more surprised now. "I had no idea…"

"Not many people do," Abby said with a sigh. "Foxy, I haven't spoken to that creep since before the trial, and I'd like to go the rest of my life without even seeing him in a crowd, let alone actually _talking_ to him. Unfortunately, that's not possible without one or the other of us leaving town. He won't because he doesn't think he did anything wrong, and I can't because… well, I have a life here. Mal wouldn't mind it if we could-" She broke off, took a moment to compose herself, and sighed. "He said he didn't have anyplace else to go, and he didn't want to drag me away from my family."

"Really?"

Abby nodded. "He's an only child, and his parents are both gone. No real friends in his hometown. My folks and I, and this business, are pretty much all he's got."

"And I do need to ask, how was your relationship with Chicken?" Foxy said, recalling what Digger had told her.

"_Very_ strained, considering he had always been in favour of you and that fat _individual_," Abby said with her eyes darting over to her customers before focusing back onto Foxy. "Being together back then. I don't know if you remember but I was _never_ comfortable when you two were dating. We had a _massive_ fight just after you left, and I let him have it over everything... that's when he _finally_ realized that someone that couldn't really decide for themselves shouldn't be in a relationship like I had been telling him for five years." She sighed. "We took a break from things, and eventually I realized I'd grown past him. Not long after that, I met Mal and we started dating. Chicken and I talked again a while later, and we agreed to stay friends and nothing more. I think he must have still seen more to it than I did, but he respected my decisions." She let out another sigh as she looked at her ring. "He came to our wedding but thankfully didn't stay for the whole thing."

Foxy nodded as she took this in. "Anyone else who might have… not been happy with him over his supporting his friend?"

Abby shrugged. "Nobody ever said anything about it to me, even after he and I broke up. I guess most people figured it wasn't worth it." She thought for a moment. "Hard to believe we were all just thirteen the first time he panicked and claimed the sky was falling..."

"And nineteen when I got my mind back," Foxy said with a sigh before frowning. "Still shouldn't have happened in the first place."

"I agree," Abby told her. "I really wish I'd spoken up for you back then, you know? You might have been a real bully to us but you didn't deserve that. Nobody did." She considered. "Though if it'd been the mayor who'd had his brains scrambled instead, I'm not sure anyone would have noticed the difference."

"How is the old turkey anyways?" Foxy asked.

"He retired, effectively," Abby said. "After the trial was such a debacle and then that mob happened, he announced he wouldn't be running for reelection - I think he was afraid he'd be the next one they blamed for some reason. As it is, they voted in a new mayor who's been a lot tougher on crime since she took office." She shrugged. "Mayor Sheepy Creepy is kind of cranky most of the time, but she's fair and honest when it comes to the actual work."

"Good to know," Foxy said. "Lurkey still lives here in town?"

Abby nodded. "He's been mostly staying in his house and avoiding any attention, but he's still around. His old assistant actually comes here and gets dinner for him once a week."

"Not surprised; might not have been the best mayor but he did have _some_ survival instincts," Foxy said as she wrote the last of her notes down.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Abby asked.

"I think that's pretty much it," Foxy replied. "If you can think of anything else that might be in any way related to this case, I'd appreciate it if you'd call it in, of course." She consulted her menu. "And while I'm here…" She pointed out an item. "An order of that, please? And a water."

Abby smiled. "Sure thing." Whipping out her own pad, she wrote it down, and headed into the back.


End file.
